


these small hours will remain

by mrsonmyr



Series: Lynch Family [2]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Future Fic, Kid Fic, M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-08-13 04:02:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20167819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrsonmyr/pseuds/mrsonmyr
Summary: small collection of moments involving the Lynch family





	1. 5 years

**Author's Note:**

> title is from little wonders

Claire Lynch was five years old when she realized it was weird that she didn’t have a mom. Well, not weird but  _ different.  _ She never really noticed before. But one day when a boy in her class came up to her and asked why her mommy never came to pick her up from school, Claire told him she didn’t have one. 

“But… everyone has a mom.” He said matter of factly. 

“Not me. I have a dad and a daddy.” She told him, then picked her crayon back up and continued to colour. 

“That’s weird.” He said and walked away. 

Was it? She had an Auntie Blue, who was kinda like a mom. And she had an Auntie Francie. They did mom things with her, like have tea parties and play dress up. But her daddies did that with her too. When she was waiting for one of her dad’s to pick her up she couldn’t help but notice everyone’s mom. Pretty ladies wearing bright lipstick and long hair, taking their children’s hands with their polished fingers. Her Auntie Blue never really dressed like that. So when Ronan came to pick her up she had some questions. 

“Daddy, you have a mom?” She asked from her car seat. 

“Yeah.” He said looking back at her in the rear view mirror. 

“And Dad has a mom?” 

Ronan could tell where this was going. He and Adam talked about it and felt the need to address it when she brought it up. Ronan wished Adam was here, he’d know exactly what to say. 

“Yeah, Dad has a mom. But they don’t talk to each other anymore.” He told her. 

“Do I have a mom?” She looked at him, meeting his eyes in the mirror. 

“No, baby. You have two dads. That’s normal, some people don’t have moms. Some don’t have dads. Sometimes people have two moms and no dads. Or they’re like you and have two dads.” He explained. 

“Oh,” she said, sounding a little disappointed. 

“Why? Did you want a mom?”

“I don’t know.” She said and looked down at her hands. “Jacob asked me today why I - I don’t have one.” Said said, lip quivering like she was about to burst into tears. Adam really should be here. 

“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t need to get upset,” he reached his arm back to rub her leg. “Sometimes people don’t have moms, and that’s normal.” 

“Everyone in my class has one!” She shouted, tears forming in her eyes. 

“Yeah? But does anyone in your class have two dads? That’s a pretty cool thing to have.” 

“I don’t  _ want  _ two dads I want a mom!” She cried in full tantrum mode. 

Ronan pulled the car over into a parking lot so he could turn around and look at her. 

“That’s not very nice. If dad heard you say that it would hurt his feelings.” Ronan tried to calm her down. She didn’t listen, kicking her little legs in her car seat, her shoes lighting up every time they made contact with the leather seat. 

“I think what you need to go home and take a nap.” Ronan said, turning back to the steering wheel and putting the car in drive. 

“If I had a mommy she wouldn’t make me nap,” Claire said at him, voice laced with anger. 

“Yes she would. Mommies don’t put up with anything. Neither does Dad. Or Daddy. So this attitude better change by the time he gets home, okay?” Ronan told her. She was silent the rest of the ride home. Once he unbuckled her from her seat she raced inside up to her room and slammed her door. Ronan didn’t hear from her again until Adam got home. 

  
  


Adam usually gets home a little before 6 if he’s lucky and beats rush hour traffic. By the time he gets home Claire is usually colouring at the table or playing with her toys in the playroom while Ronan cooks dinner. Today Ronan was cooking dinner but Claire was nowhere to be found. 

“Hey,” Adam says, putting his briefcase down on the kitchen counter. “How was your day?”

“Eventful,” Ronan says stirring a pot of stew. 

“Alright. Where’s Claire?” Adam’s standing by Ronan now inspecting the stew. 

“Oh, she’s upstairs. She’s been up there since she got home from school.” 

“What? Why? What’s wrong?” Adam looks up now, nervous. 

“Someone at school today asked her why she didn’t have a mom and then she went full tantrum on the ride home saying how badly she wants a mom.” 

“And what did you say to her?” Adam crosses his arms. 

“Hey, don’t get mad at me! I explained to her that sometimes people just don’t have moms. And sometimes they have two dads. Or two moms. Or no dad. She didn’t seem to take it that well.” Ronan’s aggressively stirring now. 

Adam rolls his eyes. “I’ll go check on her. Did you at least check in on her?” 

“Yes and she kept telling me to leave and threw her dolly at me.” 

  
  


“Claire?” Adam knocked on her bedroom door, “can I come in?” He heard a very firm  _ no _ on the other side. “Well too bad I’m coming in anyway.”

She was laying on her bed playing with two of her dolls. Her room was… a mess. Dresses thrown everywhere, buckets of books knocked over, a train set disassembled. 

“Claire what happened to this room? We need to clean this!” Adam said and picked up one of her stuffed animals. 

“No! No helping.” She said and slid off her bed. It was the same  _ big girl bed  _ he and Ronan assembled for her two years ago. 

“Claire, this room needs to be cleaned up by the weekend okay? This big of a mess isn’t allowed, especially since yesterday it was so nice and neat. What happened?” Adam sat on her bed waiting for an answer. 

“I don’t want help from a dad I want help from a  _ mom. _ ” She said and started to put her train set away. 

“Claire you don’t have a mom. You have daddy and me. We can help you clean up if you want.” 

“I don’t want.” She was as stubborn as Adam was when he was a teen. 

“Dinner is going to be ready. Please come downstairs.” He said and opened her door, waiting for her to follow. Claire dragged her feet across the carpet and down the stairs. Sitting at her little chair with her booster seat, Ronan placed her plastic bowl with stew in front of her. 

Once Adam and Ronan had served themselves they sat across from each other. Waiting for another meltdown from her. 

It doesn’t come. She just eats her dinner in silence. She doesn’t look up at Ronan or Adam. 

“Wow, Daddy, yummy stew. Claire don’t you think dinner is yummy?” Adam asked. Claire just looked up at him and didn’t say anything. Adam continued, “thank you so much for making dinner, babe.” 

“You’re welcome.” Ronan says. 

“Claire, aren’t you going to use your manners and thank Daddy for making us a good dinner?” He encouraged her. 

“Tank you.” She said quickly with her mouth full. 

“You’re welcome.” 

Claire begins to dip a bun into her stew and then rub the sauce onto the table. She wasn’t normally this misbehaved. She normally played with her food if it was spaghetti or or rigatoni, she liked to put it on her fingers. It was never this deliberate. 

“Claire,” Ronan warned, “don’t play with your food. You’re making a mess.” She continued to do it. Ronan looks at Adam to say  _ see?  _

“Claire,” Adam joined in now, reaching to place his large hand on top of hers to stop her movements. “Please listen to Daddy when he tells you to stop.” 

By the time she had to take a bath Adam could tell she was tired of the silent treatment but she was stubborn enough to keep it up. 

Adam drew her a bath and put some of her bath toys in the tub along with a little bubble bath. Once it was decently sudsy he called for her. She reluctantly walked into the bathroom and stepped into the bath. Once she was in the bath it was like she was never upset, too busy playing with her toys to continue the sour act. By the time Ronan came in from the barns he came into the bathroom and noticed that she seemed to be in a better mood. When she was ready to get out he held open a fluffy towel for her and wrapped it around her. She allowed Ronan to carry her to her bedroom and helped her get into her pyjamas. 

“Are you still mad at me?” He asked while combing her hair. 

“No,” she said, mouth pouty.

“Are you going to say sorry?” He asked. 

“Sorry,” she said looking down at her toes. 

“What are you sorry for?” Adam asked now, entering her bedroom. Taking in the scene of Ronan gently brushing out their daughters wet curls made his heart want to explode. 

“For saying I want a mommy. I don’t really want a mommy, I want you and daddy.” She said looking up at Adam. Her eyes got glossy and her little legs carried her over to where Adam was standing, hugging his legs. 

“That’s very nice of you to say, bunny. Why don’t you tell daddy that?”

She turned to Ronan who was already kneeling down to her level and sprung into his arms, wrapping her arms around him. 

“I’m sorry Daddy, I don’t want a mommy. I just want you and Dad.” She said, crying now. 

Ronan stroked her damp curls. “Thank you.” He said softly against her ear. 

“Why don’t we go downstairs and sit on the couch and watch something on tv? Does that sound good?” Adam asks. 

“Can we sit in your big bed?” Claire asks. She always gets what she wants. 


	2. 7 years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There might be a monster under Claire's bed.

Her room was pitch black. She couldn’t tell if she had her eyes open or if they were still shut. Her small nightlight in the corner of her room couldn’t be bright enough. Claire woke with the howling of the coyotes and the tree branches bustling against her window from the wind. She had no idea what time it was, but she knew something was there. She could sense it. She clung to her sheets and wrapped her arms around her stuffed bear. Closing her eyes she prayed she could fall back asleep. The second branch hit her window she shot up and yelled for her dad. Nothing. Where was he? Was he asleep? She could tell through the crack under her door that the hall light was on, dad and daddy were probably downstairs on the couch. That’s where they usually were when it was late and Claire would climb down the stairs asking for a glass of water. 

She would get out of her bed and stand at the top of the stairs and yell down for him but she couldn’t get up. Whatever was under her bed would try to grab at her ankles. She brought her knees to her chest and tried again, this time calling for daddy. He was usually a light sleeper anyways. Finally she could hear footsteps coming up the stairs, the sound getting louder as they got closer. Her door slowly opened and the light from the hall shone in. 

“What’s the matter, Claire-bear?” Ronan asked standing in the doorway. 

“I heard something outside and I think there’s something under my bed.” 

“It’s just the wind.” He told her. That didn’t satisfy her. He got down on his knees and peaked under her bed, “nothing under there. No monsters.” 

Monsters? Do monsters normally hide under beds? Was this a regular occurance? If they weren’t there tonight surely they had to be there at some point. And if not under her bed maybe in her closet? 

“Go back to sleep, okay sweetie.” Ronan tucked her back in and placed a kiss on her forehead. Claire was never sleeping again. 

The next night Claire went to soccer practice and by the time she got home and had a bath she passed out on the couch. Someone had moved her up into her bed because she woke up the next morning without any monster attacks. 

The following night Claire was positive there was a monster under her bed. She heard the same noises from the other night and she swore she could hear it breathing. This time she wanted Dad. He came in and sat on the edge of her bed. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“There’s a monster under my bed.” Claire told him. 

“A monster? Are you sure?” She nodded her head. “What type of monster?” 

“I don’t know!” Claire was getting frustrated. Wasn’t it their jobs to get rid of monsters? Why was this such a hard process? 

“Claire come with me, I’m going to dispose of this monster okay?” Adam plucked her out of bed and carried her to their bedroom and sat her in the middle of their bed. “Wait here until the coast is clear.” Adam left to go downstairs and a few minutes later he returned and went straight into Claire’s room. He finally came back to her, carrying a plate and an opaque plastic cup was sitting on top of it. 

“Alright Claire, I got it. I’m going to go put it outside and far away. Stay here.” She heard her dad go downstairs and she heard her daddy start to talk. 

They both came upstairs after the monster was put away. Adam brought her back to bed and kissed her goodnight. Claire fell asleep right away. 

“I can’t believe that worked.” Ronan said sitting in bed. 

“Yeah, well good going telling her that there might be monsters under her bed.” Ronan just laughed. 


	3. 6 Years

* * *

Claire Lynch was 6 years old when she shaved her head. She was supposed to be assisting her father with his shaving. Sitting on the bathroom counter and holding the electric razor with both hands, running it along her father’s head, watching the clumps of hair fall to the tiled floor. 

“Good job.” He’d tell her then lifting her to stand so she could reach the top of his head. His hands on her waist keeping her steady. 

“This is easy, Daddy.” She told him as the razor moved over the round of his head. Adam would usually do the back for him but he was at work and it was raining so Claire was stuck inside. 

“You’re doing a good job.” He says after inspecting her work in the mirror. He put her down and took the razor from her, going over a few spots she missed. “Thank you.” He bent down so she could rub her hand over the short hairs, loving the feel of it. 

Ronan put the guard back on the razor and put it back in his drawer. He shook any of the hair that got on his shoulders off and told her to go play in her room while he made lunch. She skipped to her bedroom and started to play with some of her dolls, noticing their long synthetic hair. Claire ran her hands through her own hair, shoulder length curls. It didn’t feel as good as Daddy’s short hair. She could hear him in the kitchen, dishes clinking as he prepared her lunch. Claire scurried back to his bathroom and climbed up onto the counter, inspecting her hair in the mirror. She took the razor out of the drawer and turned it on, the electric motor humming. She brought it up to the side of her head, running it up the side. Long, brown curls fell into the sink. The guard on the razor saved it from being as short as Ronan’s but it still felt like Ronan’s hair when he rubbed it. She giggled, shaving more. 

“Claire!” Ronan yelled when he saw her sitting in his sink, chunks of hair missing. “What are you doing?” He took the razor from her. 

“Feels like yours.” She said, smiling at herself in the mirror. 

“Claire, Dad is going to kill me.” 

“But I want to look like you.” She said, looking up at him. How could Ronan say no to that? 

He put a hat over her half shaved head and took her to a barber shop close to their house. Ronan showed the man his daughters work and asked him to do his best with it. “Just make it look good enough so her Dad won’t murder me.” 

He ended up giving her what he called a fade. Short, shaved sides that felt _so _ good when Claire rubbed them, and a short pixie cut on top. She looked adorable. If Adam was mad he wouldn’t be for long. Claire loved her new short hair. 

“Ronan Niall Lynch!” Adam yelled when he got home. “I was gone for six hours. How - what happened?” 

“Dad, I shaved my head!” Claire cheered. “Daddy took me to get it cut! Feels so good.” She smiled at him, her smile was gapped from missing a front tooth. Adam couldn’t be mad at that face. His sweet little girl. 

“You two should not be left alone together. Daddy is going to give me a heart attack one day.” Adam said as he scooped Claire up to kiss her shaved side of her head. 


End file.
